(Gk. Athínai).
Capital city of Greece. It is the country's main musical centre. Its role in the overall development of Greek music is discussed in Greece, §III.
The 1994 Panellinios odhigos odheion lists 156 private conservatories, conservatory branches and music schools in Athens and its suburbs. The most important ones, in chronological order, are: the Odheion Athinon (Athens Conservatory), established in 1871 and the oldest institution of its kind in mainland Greece. Since 1979 it has been partly funded by the government. It contains a small concert hall; the Odheion Peiraďkou Syndesmou (Piraeus League Conservatory), founded in 1904; the Ellinikon Odheion (Hellenic Conservatory), founded in 1919 by Kalomiris, which has 16 branches in Athens; the Ethnikon Odheion (National Conservatory), founded in 1926, also by Kalomiris, with 34 branches in Attica; the Athens Orpheion, founded in 1962 as a music school and a conservatory since 1967; the Attikon Odheion (Attica Conservatory), founded in 1967 as the Athens Music School and a conservatory since 1976; the Apolloneion Odheion (Apollonian Conservatory), founded in 1972; the Athenaeum Conservatory, founded in 1974. Since 1975 it has organized the annual the Maria Callas International Competition. It contains a small concert hall; the Nikos Skalkottas Conservatory, founded in 1981; the Philippos Nakas Conservatory, founded in 1981, and containing a small concert hall and a recording studio; and the Moussiki Etaeria Athinon (Athens Musical Society), founded in 1993 under the composer Yannis Ioannidis. The music department of Athens University, founded in 1991, is rather orientated towards Orthodox church music and ethnomusicology.
The largest auditoriums in Athens are the ancient Odheion Herodou tou Attikou (Theatre of Herodes Atticus), constructed in ad 160–70 with a capacity of 5000 and since 1955 associated with the Athens Festival; and the modern amphitheatre on Lycabettus Hill, constructed in 1965 (cap. 4000) and in recent years used mainly for pop concerts. A third open-air theatre in Piraeus, Veakeion (cap. 1986), inaugurated in 1969, is used for opera, theatre, ballet, concerts and folk ensembles. Since 1991 the Megaro Moussikis Athinon (Athens Concert Hall) has either promoted or housed most of the city's winter concert activity. The other Athenian concert halls are, in order of capacity: the Pallas auditorium, (cap. 1750), which houses some of the concerts of the Athens State Orchestra; the Olympia Theatre, formerly an open-air theatre, which houses the Ethniki Lyriki Skini (National State Opera), with a seating capacity of 952; the Athens College auditorium in Psychiko (cap. 830), inaugurated in 1982; the Piraeus Dhimotikon Theatron (city Theatre) (cap. 700), inaugurated in 1895 for concerts, theatre and occasional opera performances; the Parnassus Hall (cap. 600), founded in 1865 and used for recitals and chamber concerts; the hall of the Ethniki Pinakothiki (National Gallery), completed in 1976 and, until the construction of the Athens Concert Hall, used for radio concerts and other events. It is still occasionally used as a concert venue; the new Athinaďko Dhimotiko Theatro (Athens City Theatre), near Nea Smyrni, inaugurated in 1989 with a capacity of 470; the auditorium of the Athens French Institute (cap. 437), opened in 1976; the auditorium of the Athens Goethe Institut (cap. 350); the auditorium of the Hellenic-American Union (cap. 200); and the auditorium of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (cap. c150).
The city's oldest established orchestras are the Athens State Orchestra (1942), which grew out of the Athens Conservatory RSO (1894), and the Athens SO (1938). More recent orchestras include the Orchistra ton Chromaton (‘Orchestra of Colours’), founded in 1989 by Manos Hadjidakis; the Camerata of the ‘Friends of Music’ Society, founded in 1991 by the conductor Alexandros Myrat and based in the Athens Concert Hall; and the Athens City SO, founded in 1996 under the conductor Eleftherios Kalkanis and based at the new Athens City Theatre.
The three principal choirs in Athens are the chorus of the National Opera, the Radio Chorus and Fons Musicalis, founded in 1989, which performs mainly at the Athens Concert Hall. Chamber music has always been a marginal feature of Athens musical life. Ensembles based in the city have included the Athens Trio (1933–55), the Hellenic String Quartet, later named the Georgios Lycoudis Quartet (founded 1952), the Athens String Octet (1961–9), the Hellenic Woodwind Quintet (1963–80), the Nikolaos Mantzaros Wind Ensemble (founded 1978), the sextet Symmolpa (1985–8) and the Skalkottas String Quartet (founded 1989), later the New Hellenic Quartet. The last three groups have been especially active in the promotion of contemporary Greek music.
It is difficult not to consider the foundation of the Ethniki Lyriki Skini (National Opera) as a branch of the National Theatre during Metaxas's dictatorship (1936–41) as one aspect of an attempt to control the artistic and mass media. It was inaugurated in 1940 at the Olympia Theatre with Die Fledermaus; four years later it became independent, under Kalomiris's directorship. It now has a virtual monopoly of opera production in Greece and operates as part of the ministry of culture. Promising young singers have often preferred to make their careers abroad, mainly in Germany; many return as guests. The Olympia Theatre, rebuilt several times, has traditionally been the company's home; its main season runs from November to May. The repertory is restricted by the dimensions of the building, with its narrow stage and small pit; there are 433 stalls seats, with a further 519 in two tiers of boxes and galleries. By the late 1990s the company had staged over 170 works. The average season consists of six operas and two operettas (usually including a popular Greek one). The repertory is conservative, with the emphasis on Verdi and Puccini, although contemporary Greek works have been increasingly performed since the early 1990s.
For bibliography see Greece, §III.
GEORGE LEOTSAKOS